


Fare Thee Well

by QuirkyFirst



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Gen, Poe Dameron Can Sing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-09
Updated: 2016-01-09
Packaged: 2018-05-12 20:58:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5680543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuirkyFirst/pseuds/QuirkyFirst
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"As sure as the birds,<br/>flying high above.<br/>Life ain't worth living,<br/>without the one you love."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fare Thee Well

“Ah, you're looking for the ex-Storm Trooper. _FN-2187_.”

“ _Finn_. We call him _Finn_.” Rey explained to the woman behind the desk. “General Organa told me he would be here.”

The woman nodded, typing in something on the holographic screen in front of her. Rey watched, shifting her feet and waiting with a composed impatience for directions. After a moment, the blonde haired woman looked up at her and smiled.

“You’ll find him in Room 209. Second floor.” Handing the girl a slip of paper and a name tag, she pointed across the hall. “There’s an elevator to your left.”

Rey thanked her and made her way to the elevator. The ride up was quiet, which she was thankful for until a family of Rodians boarded. The littlest one was blue and green, and whose antlers hadn't yet begun to show themselves. He waddled over to the area beside Rey as his countless other rambunctious siblings took up the rest of the available space. Looking up at her, he made a face and stuck out his three tongues. Rey returned the gesture as soon as the arrival button dinged, and she was allowed to disembark.

 _Nasty Rodians…_ she cursed, disdainfully in her mind. A similar Rodian family had terrorized Jako for years when she was a child. They were all the same, across the galaxy, and she wasn't quite ready to encounter them again anytime soon.

It didn't take long, after following the informative signs on the walls, to find Finn’s particular room in the medical bay. After a courtesy knock, Rey opened the door to find a droid nurse already inside. By the looks of things, she was drawing blood from the arm of the young man lying in bed. He had dark chocolate skin and a nice face. Even asleep, his sweet demeanor was evident. After a quick exchange of words with the droid in some language unknown to most, she acknowledged the Resistance Pilot who was already in the room, sitting a seat beside their comatose friend. Poe, did Finn say his name was?

“You're Beebeeate’s master, aren't you?” She began after the nurse bid her goodbye. “The one who got the map from Lor San Tekka on Jako, and destroyed the StarKiller base.”

The pilot chuckled a bit, setting down the guitar he had been holding in his lap.

“The first part, yeah.” He shrugged. “But the other things were team efforts.”

“Finn speaks highly of you.”

“He speaks higher of _you_ ,” Poe responded, turning his chair to face her. “And don't get me started on everything Beebeeate says about you.” With a kind smile, Poe nodded to her. “It's good to finally meet you. Everything you did for The Resistance… for Han and Leia? I can't thank you enough. Kylo Ren would still be throwing Sith Tantrums with big repercussions if it weren't for you.”

“Most of those were team efforts,” Rey smirked. “But the last part, yeah.”

Poe chuckled, leaning on his arms and shaking his head. “I suppose I deserved that…” With a glance at the man on the bed, he sighed deeply. “This guy is a tough crowd to please.” Patting his guitar, he looked back at Rey. “No applause or anything.”

“You play?”

“And sing.” Poe added. “Do you?”

“A little.” _Not since they left._

The famed pilot grabbed his guitar again and set it on his lap. Beginning to strum a part of a well-known song, he motioned to her. “Do you know this one?”

Rey nodded, leaning against the wall behind her and waiting for him to continue.

“Good. Let's sing him something, then. Maybe he’ll wake up and tell us to cut it out.” With a last playful smirk, Poe began to sing. His voice was soulful, melodic and folky. He carried each word as if it had some monumental meaning to him. The weight of each syllable he sang took Rey aback at first, but she soon grew transfixed by the soothing tune. She felt herself swaying as if her soul itself was singing along.

_“If I had wings,_

_Like Noah’s doves,_

_I’d fly up a river,_

_To the one I love.”_

The song was old, no doubt, and Rey couldn't quite place the first time she had heard it. In fact, she wasn't even sure where- or what age, for that matter- the song even came from. But in all honesty, that's the way with folk music. It's from every age, but it never really seems to age itself.

_“Fare thee well,_

_Oh, honey._

_Fare thee well.”_

Rey’s eyes drifted from the acoustic guitar to the sleeping features of the ex-trooper. He looked so peaceful, lying there. It could have been her imagination, but she could have sworn his lips were turned up in a small smile. Oh, how she wished she could stay with him; wait for him to wake up. But she had to go soon, and after discussing it with General Organa, she knew her mission couldn't be postponed. Not even for Finn.

 _“I remember one evening in the pouring rain._ _  
_ _And in my heart,_

 _I felt an aching pain_ _  
_ _Fare thee well, my honey,_

_fare thee well.”_

Somehow, though, she wasn't worried. Poe and the others would look after him for her. What really concerned her was whether or not the map was accurate, and, if it was, what would she find when she arrived? After all these years of hearing stories, rumors, _legends_ , could Luke Skywalker even live up to her expectations? It seemed nearly impossible.

And the worst, what if when she got there she found that Luke doesn't want to help The Resistance at all? Would Han’s sacrifice have been null and void?

 _“Muddy river runs muddy and wild._ _  
_ _You can’t give a bloody,_

 _for my unborn child._ _  
_ _Fare thee well, my honey._

_Fare thee well.”_

As she sang along, getting the feel of the words and the tune, her heart began to ache. Had she lost the closest thing she had to a father for a man who didn't care to come home at all? Would he turn a blind eye, and leave the rest of them to suffer?

_“Just as sure as the birds,_

_flying high above._ _  
_ _Life ain’t worth living,_

 _without the one you love._ _  
_ _Fare thee well, my honey._

_Fare thee well.”_

No matter what the outcome, she knew she had to try. If there was only a small chance of success, she had to try. She had to. For Leia. For Han. For Finn. For them, she had to try.

_“Fare thee well, my honey._

_Fare thee well._

_Fare thee well.”_

As Poe played the last chords of the song, Rey stood. It was time for her to leave; everyone would be waiting for her by now. Walking over to where the pilot sat, she placed a hand gently on his shoulder.

“Look after him for me.”

Leaning over the bed, Rey lowered her lips to the forehead of her new and only friend.

“We’ll see each other again.” She whispered to him. “I believe that.”


End file.
